Rules for social visit pass may be tightened to prevent prostitution

28 Mar 2019 / 13:51 H.

Datuk Khairul Dzaimee Daud (C) with foregin nationals who were nabbed during an operation, in Bukit Mertajam, on March 27, 2019. — Bernama

GEORGE TOWN: The Immigration Department may tighten the procedure for the issuing of the social visit pass in an effort to prevent foreign tourists from engaging in prostitution in the country, Immigration director-general Datuk Khairul Dzaimee Daud said here today.

The tightening of the procedure is one of several proposals under consideration by the department to ensure that foreign tourists do not abuse the social visit pass when in the country, he said.

“They (foreign tourists) may have to undergo questioning at the entry points (before the pass is issued). Nevertheless, there has to be a thorough study on this because we do not want tourists to feel we are too strict on them,” he told reporters here.

Earlier, Khairul Dzaimee led the Ops Gegar operation from midnight last night that resulted in the arrest of 69 foreign nationals suspected to have committed immigration offences at several locations here and in Butterworth.

Nineteen of the foreigners were women aged between 23 and 30 who had come from Thailand, Vietnam and Laos and had been working as customer service employees and offering sex services, he said. — Bernama